JENNIFER NINI is the blogger/editor of Eco Warrior Princess, an eco fashion blog that raises awareness of the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry whilst promoting ethical and sustainable fashion to the masses.

She is a member of the Ethical Fashion Network; the Secretary of the Rose City Writers Group (QLD) and a proud independent fashion blogger/writer. Nini has contributed to magazines such as MERH, Bare Essentials Magazine and other independent publications. Her eco fashion blog has also featured on the popular environmental WordPress blog, EcoPressed. Having moved from Melbourne to a small rural town in near the Great Dividing Range, Nini leads by example and currently enjoys a sustainable lifestyle that is completely off-the-grid and self sufficient. In other words, she puts her money exactly where her mouth is!

Like this:

Many of us actually think twice before devouring greasy unhealthy food void of nutritional value. In a culture where food and health consciousness is an acceptable part of everyday life, many of us watch what we eat, kilojoule count and read the nutritional fine print on food packaging.

Thus: if you are what you eat, than it should also ring true for what you wear.

I’ve been to many a party and it is at such parties that the fashiondiscussionoften takes place. It usually goes something like this:

Female A: “I love that dress you’ve got on – where’d you get it from?”

Many of us have had similar conversations like the one above. I’ve been guilty of it many times in my life. I can’t help it – I love clothes and I love fashion. The only difference is, if someone asked where I got a dress or an item from, my usual reply is “It’s vintage” or “From the op-shop” or even “Got in on e-Bay.” And most of the time this is true. Recycled, vintage and second-hand clothing is not only economical, it’s also eco-friendly.

And the only other deviance from the above conversation – especially if I’m doing the asking – is the question “What’s it made out of?” To which the standard response is usually “I don’t know.”

Just so you know, the right answer could be one or more of the following fabrics: bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, organic wool, organic linen, milk silk, soy silk, recycled polyester, jute or muslin.

So the next time you’re at a dinner party, or work function or even waiting in line to go the female bathroom at a club (this frequently happens to me) and you get involved in that fashion discussion – you’ll come off less like a fashion groupie and a lot more like a fashion editor. I know which one I’d prefer to be!

Our place (actually, our shed) is run purely on solar power thanks to 4 well placed solar panels on the roof of our container. But when the sun goes down, we are forced to think ahead about our energy consumption and reduceour usage so that we can at least refrigerate our frozen goods!

Living this very basic life, I have also become Miss Minimalist and reduced my usage of the hair dryer and hair straightener (bye bye GHD) and my current wardrobe could be considered bare with just the few essential items (mainly work clothes) and a handful of dresses and casual clothes that would take up only 1/30th of my last wardrobe!

I also use and re-use those green Enviro Bags (courtesy of Woolworths). Not only do they help to reduce the amount of plastic bags that plague this planet but they are so much sturdier than the plastic bags. We have about 10 of them (not sure how that happened) but here’s a tip that I forget every now and then. To make this work, you have to remember to take one with you! Often the only time a plastic bag pops up in my life is when I’ve forgotten to take the Enviro Bags with me! Tsk Tsk.

And yes, even out here in the country despite our efforts to reduce human consumption, we still recycle because we still purchase milk, beer, wine and other boxed goods! Even in the country there is no hiding from a bottle! We have a bin kept aside for all our recyclables and although our food scraps aren’t recyclable, we keep it aside for compost or offer it to our hen Dodo who will eat just about anything.

So there you have it. A concise list on ways to reduce your carbon footprint on this planet. Now if only someone could help me with finding a more sustainable way to get to and from work each day (50 kilometres round trip) where this is no reliable transport and without having to purchase a Toyota Prius or sweating it out on a push bike.

It’s easy for me to talk about sustainability and even easier for me to follow an eco-friendly life – we live on a 2 acre property with enough space to grow our own veggies, install 3 water tanks and be able to live off the grid so we never have to hear from any energy companies – ever!

But I did live in Melbourne up until September last year and I did my best to live sustainably amongst the hustle and bustle. Here’s what I did:

I shopped in second hand clothing stores such as St Vinnie’s and Salvation Army as well as the well known recycle store, Savers. I often shopped for clothing, books and home decor. As the years went by and I found more interesting and unique items, I turned my back on conventional shops and headed straight to the local op-shop. You may need a bit of patience when browsing through some of the items – but when you find that little treasure, it’s well worth it!

Pulled it out!

I was notorious for pulling the plug out of the power point when I wasn’t using something. This is a habit that I cultivated whilst living with my parents who were very energy conscious (which I’m sure was a result of getting a $500 energy bill!). They believed that anything still plugged in, even if switched off, was still using some small amount of power. Although back then I wasn’t convinced, the habit stuck and every now and then still annoys my partner Ben who is not used to having to plug things back in after leaving the room only minutes earlier.

Turned it off!

I’m referring to the water tap. I did my best to be economical with it and turned the tap off especially when I was brushing my teeth and when I was soaping up in the shower. And as much as I loved a bath, I only ever had one in the 5 years I lived in my house because I just didn’t enjoy waiting for the tub to fill with all of that water! I’m not saying you can’t have a bath, all I’m saying is to try and find a more economical way to relax – like meditation!

Used those legs!

For a while there my partner Ben and I were walking in the mornings trying to get fit. It was during this time that we would also head to our local green grocer to top up on fruit and veggies. If we couldn’t be bothered walking, I’d get my push bike out. Not only do you rely less on the fuel-guzzling vehicle and reduce car pollution, but you also get fit relying on your own legs to get you where you need to go!

Back by popular request, I’ve included more photos from Henryetta‘s collection. If you have any enquiries about any of the fashion pieces, feel free to contact the fashion designer directly on email: melissa [at] henryetta [dot] com [dot] au. I promise, she will reply!

Note: I would normally direct you to the website so you can happily max out your credit cards, but unfortunately it is still under construction!

On a perfect Saturday morning, trawling the infamous stalls at Paddington Markets on a girls long weekend trip to Sydney, I met a wonderful young designer who I literally wanted to kneel and bow down to. Melissa Morgan, a self proclaimed Eco Designer and fellow Eco Warrior Princess was standing there, looking wonderfully natural like a bohemian queen and yet somewhat polished like only a Sydney sider can look. Michelle is the beauty as well as the brains behind my favourite new eco fashion label, Henryetta.

Perusing the racks of her small market stall, it was difficult not to fall head over heels for her clothing range. She had an eclectic mix of designs from robin blue pencil skirts to comfortable dusty pink silk shirts and beautiful kaftans as well as wooden accessories. As a talented clothing designer, she had won herself a new customer – the colours and the drape of her clothes were a natural enticement to my sense of fashion. However, more than just her penchant for making great clothes, is Melissa’s penchant for making ethical and environmentally responsible great clothes. Her commitment to using sustainable fabrics such as hemp and silk shows that a designer can still produce fashionably stylish clothes without compromising their principles and values.

So if you are ever in Sydney, please make sure you stop in and visit her stall at Paddington Market. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

You're probably wondering what kind of blog this is, right? Right. Well it's an eco blog, a fashion blog, an opinion blog all rolled into one and basically anything else in my life that I feel like sharing.

I hope this blog will help you learn and grow and inspire you to start critically thinking and motivates you to take action to make this world a better place.

If it does, then I have achieved what I set out to achieve. Enjoy!

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